DEFENSE COMMUNITIES 360

Budget Deal Done, But Details Still Closely Held

Appropriations staff continued to work Monday to turn Friday’s last-minute compromise over fiscal 2011 spending into legislation while the rest of Washington, D.C., catches its breath after coming within 90 minutes of witnessing a federal government shutdown.

Final language for the deal, which cuts $38 billion from previous spending levels, was expected to be released Monday night. CQ Today reported that DOD would receive $513 billion in FY 2011 funding, about $2 billion less than Republicans asked for but a small increase over 2010’s allocation.

The cuts would include $20 billion in discretionary spending and $18 billion in mandatory spending. More than $1 billion in cuts on the discretionary side would be imposed via an across-the-board reduction that would affect all programs except for DOD, according to CQ.

After approving a one-week extension of federal funding early Saturday morning, Congress will have until April 15 to take up the larger agreement. The House could debate the measure as early as Wednesday before sending it to the Senate.